Upper Leg

Upper Leg

Quad Strain

Your quadriceps is one of the strongest muscles in your body. With that, it is also very susceptible to injury, especially with a lot of quick contractions, like running an cutting. When there is a forceful contraction of the quad muscle when the hip is bent and the leg is straight (as in a kicking movement), it puts the quad in a position of possible failure. Signs and symptoms may range from mild tenderness to the touch to the inability to walk without pain. Bruising may be present with associated swelling. Treatment includes ice, anti-inflammatories, crutches (if unable to walk). In severe cases, rehabilitation may be warranted to regain proper mobility strength.

Hamstring Strain

Like the neighboring quad, your hamstring muscle group is made up of 3 different bands of long powerful muscles. A lot of hamstring injuries occur with over training with tight muscles, imbalance of quad to hamstring ratio or weak core. If the muscles are tight, they don’t have the same mobility to withstand all the changing forces and pressures you put through them while playing sports or working out. When the hamstring is strained, it may feel like a very intense cramp feeling through the back of your leg. Treatment is very conservative with reducing the inflammation and slowly working on flexibility.

Iliotibial Band Syndrome

Your Iliotibila Band, is a very thick, fibrous band of connective tissue that runs down the outside of the leg from the hip to just below the knee. It can get very inflamed, and that inflammation will stick around for a while and become more tight and painful if not treated. This injury commonly occurs in runners and can be very debilitating. It can affect other activities as well if there are muscle imbalances and poor form with how the leg is moving. Physical therapy treatments are used to reduce pain and inflammation and restore proper muscle balances throughout the pelvic/hip/lower leg region. Once the pain diminishes, a thorough overall functional screen should be performed to see if there were any other causes of the change in movements that would have caused the pain.

Femur Fracture

A fracture to your femur usually comes from a very larger traumatic force to the mid and upper thigh. Whether from a fall, car accident, sport injury, or other traumatic force, treatment will usually consist of some sort of immobilization, if not surgery as soon as possible. One of the main concerns is getting the bone back to normal alignment and preventing from any more severe internal leg injury. The rehab process will consist a lot on getting the knee and hip moving, normal walking patterns, strength, and eventual normal sport activities is appropriate.

Hip Flexor/Groin

Like other muscle strains, a hip flexor or groin strain is usually caused by running, jumping, twisting, kicking, or any combo of them all. Signs and symptoms may range from mild tenderness over the muscle involved to the inability to contract the muscle and walk. There will be localized pain and swelling and in severe cases, the person may have bruising to the inner thigh, indicating bleeding to the injured muscle. Depending upon the severity, treatment may include ice, compression wrap, crutches (if unable to walk). Rehabilitation is usually slow and controlled to minimize re-injury while working on flexibility, and strength.

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